Palestine Election Guide-Eng

The Central Elections Commission (CEC) Palestine The Presidential Elections 2005 Guidebook 1 Copyright c 2005 The Central Elections Commission All Rights Reserved 2 Table of contents Welcome letter from the CEC Chairman Section I: Background on Palestine and elections 1. A brief history of Palestine 2. Palestinian political structure 3. The 1996 presidential and legislative elections 4. Issues on the Palestinian agenda Section II: The 2005 presidential elections 1. The call for elections 2. The Central Elections Commission 3. Legal framework and electoral system Section III: Electoral preparations and operations 1. The data entry center 2. Voter registration 3. Exhibition, challenges & additional registration 4. Civil registry voters 5. Candidate nominations, exhibition and challenges 6. Elections Appeals Court 7. Voter education campaigns 8. Observer accreditation 9. Polling centers, ballot boxes and election kits 10. Polling and counting procedures 11. Logistics: challenges and solutions Section IV: The 2005 presidential candidates 1. The candidates 2. Political parties and factions 3. Election campaigning codes of conduct Section V: International and domestic observers 3 A Welcome Letter from the CEC Chairman On behalf of the Central Elections Commission (CEC), it gives me great pride to welcome you to Palestine as we prepare for a critical event in the history of the Palestinian people. On Sunday, January 9th 2005, more than one million Palestinians are expected to head to polling stations in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, to elect the new president of the Palestinian National Authority. It is the second time in recent history (the first being in 1996) that the Palestinians get the chance to practice their civil and democratic rights to select their leader, and thus to have a say in the shaping of their destiny. Given the political history of Palestine and the hardships Palestinians have lived under in the last half century, the importance of the present elections cannot be overstated. The present CEC was established in October 27, 2002 through a decree by the late President Arafat. It is an independent body that is responsible for the administration, conduct and supervision of Palestinian Presidential and Legislative elections. Thanks to the work of a team of dedicated and motivated staff, and the support of numerous international agencies, the CEC has already implemented a major drive to register eligible voters, conducted voter education campaigns, trained more than 17,500 supervisors and staff for polling and counting stations, coordinated the participation of thousands of local and international election observers, and secured that all logistical matters are in place and ready for Election Day. Despite the difficult circumstances of working within the reality and constraints of a military occupation, the CEC remains determined to conduct free, fair and transparent elections. We see the role of international observers and media representatives as a dual one: first to monitor our elections and to ensure that they are being held in 4 accordance with internationally accepted standards, and second to monitor the activities of the occupying power so that our elections could be held without any harassment or intimidation. The present booklet has been prepared by the CEC’s Public Relations department. It contains informative material to guide you as you witness and observe the forthcoming elections. We hope that it will enhance your understanding of the present election process, the challenges that face the CEC and the key issues of concern for Palestinian voters. If you need further information please do visit our website at www.elections.ps. Once again I welcome you to Palestine. Whether you are here as an international observer, a media representative or a guest, I extend to you my sincerest wishes for an exciting and rewarding experience, and hope that the present elections will herald a new era in the region, namely the establishment of a free Palestinian state – a state free from military occupation, a state based on democratic principles, but equally important a state that is based on respect for moral values and human dignity. Dr. Hanna Nasir Chairman, CEC 5 6 Section I: Background on Palestine and Elections 7 8 1- A Brief History of Palestine For thousands of years the geographical area known today as Palestine occupied a prominent place in human history and remained a site of special significance for different civilizations and religions. Throughout those years the indigenous people of the region endured empires and administrations imposed on them by outsiders, a situation that continues till today. In more recent history Palestine was administered as a group of regions that were part of the territories under the control of the Ottoman Empire. The region of Jerusalem, however, maintained a measure of autonomy. By the mid 19th century, the area’s population totaled around 500,000 Arab speakers, of which 60,000 were Christian, 20,000 Jewish and the rest Muslim. Around 50,000 Ottoman soldiers and administrators were also present in the area along with around 10,000 representatives of various European and American interests. While urban Palestine was more ‘modern’ and more closely integrated with Western societies, it remained tied to, and was the link with, a more traditional rural Palestine. Throughout Palestine, family and clan identities provided most people’s primary allegiances, and people of all religions and ethnic groups lived, for the most part, lives that were peacefully intertwined. This situation by and large continued until the unprecedented rupture in Palestinian society that occurred when Zionist militias used violence and intimidation to force most of the indigenous population from their homes and land in 1948. The following are key events in Palestinian modern history: a. The British Mandate (1917-1947) With the demise of the Ottoman Empire at the close of the First World War, Palestine was one of several former Ottoman Arab territories to be administered by Great Britain under the quasi-colonial Mandates System of the League of Nations. All but one of those Mandated Territories became fully independent States, as anticipated. Palestine was the exception. Despite the indigenous population’s aspirations for independence, in 1917 Great Britain adopted a proposal from Theodor Herzl’s World Zionist Organization, known as the Balfour Declaration, supporting the establishment of “a Jewish national home in Palestine”. The years 1922 to 1932 saw a growing tide of immigration to Palestine, with the Jewish population increasing from 83,970 to 192,137. Following Hitler’s rise to power in 1933 a further 100,000 predominantly German and Eastern European immigrants arrived in the area. Land acquisitions, expropriations and Jewish nationalist aspirations began to threaten local aspirations for a Palestinian state. Tension between the indigenous population and the new wave of colonialists 9 increased. Palestinian demands for sovereignty and resistance to Jewish immigration led to clashes in the 1920s, a General Strike in 1936, and a rebellion in 1937. Great Britain withdrew from Palestine in 1947, and passed responsibility for the problem to the United Nations. UN Resolution 181 advocated the partition of Palestine into two independent states. Although Jews owned less than 7% of the land and comprised only 30 percent of the population at that time, their state would be allocated 56.47% of Palestine, within which an estimated 407,000 Palestinians would continue to live. The Palestinians, who comprised 70% of the population, would be granted 43.53% of the land for their state. Jerusalem would be delegated the status of a corpus separatum and placed under the administration of the United Nations. The “Partition Plan” was rejected by the Palestinians, as well as other countries in the region, on the grounds that it condoned the displacement of a nation and violated the rights of the Palestinians to self-determination. The Jewish Agency accepted the resolution. b. The 1948 War and the Palestinian Refugee Crisis (1947-1967) The unilateral declaration of the State of Israel by the Jewish Agency on the 14th of May 1948, brought the armies of Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Lebanon and Iraq into the areas allocated to the Palestinians in the Partition Plan, setting the scene for the 1948 war. By the end of the war, Israeli forces had defeated the Arab armies, gained control of 77.4% of Palestine, and created what would become one of the largest refugee populations in the world. Palestinians fled by force or in fear to the West Bank, Gaza Strip and neighboring Arab countries, following outrages such as that at Deir Yassin on 9th of April 1948, when Jewish forces invaded the Palestinian village and massacred 254 civilians. Approximately 914,000 Palestinians were displaced from their land, that which was to become Israel, leading to a major humanitarian crisis. The remaining parts of Palestine, the West Bank and Gaza, were placed under Jordanian and Egyptian administration respectively. UN Resolution 194 in the General Assembly stipulated the right of return for all displaced Palestinians. In 1964 the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was established as the representative body in exile for the Palestinian people. The PLO evolved into an umbrella organization for different Palestinian factions, playing a critical role in mobilizing Palestinians and generating international support. By 1968, the PLO had been dominated by Fateh (the Palestinian Liberation Movement), which had been founded by Yasser Arafat and other members in 1959. c. The 1967 War and Israel’s Invasion of Lebanon (1967 – 1982) A second war broke out on the 5th of June 1967, between Israel on one side and Egypt, Syria and Jordan, on the other. By the end of the war Israel had captured the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. East Jerusalem was annexed and the humanitarian refugee crisis intensified with the 10 displacement of an additional half a million Palestinians.

Load more